Business groups the CBI, the British Chambers of Commerce and the EEF release figures today showing the economy is stubbornly refusing to respond to Government initiatives.

The new forecasts come as the OECD is this morning expected to predict the UK economy will slip back into recession at the start of next year.

Problems for the Chancellor include the EEF reporting a sharp rise in the number of companies experiencing increased cost of debt financing. One of the key measures to be tackled on Tuesday is to increase lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The CBI also reveals the fastest decline in volume and value of business in the service sector for two years. The poor performance in the third quarter was matched by declining confidence in the future.

The third set of downbeat news is provided by the BCC, which downgraded its estimates for economic growth for 2011, 2012 and 2013. The group now expects UK GDP growth to be minimal until midway through 2012 when it will start to gradually improve.

The Chancellor is looking to use Tuesday’s Autumn Statement to introduce measures that will kick-start growth in the economy.

He is expected to unveil a £20bn credit easing scheme to use the Government’s low cost of borrowing to support bank lending to SMEs. Although full details will not be released until Tuesday it is thought the Government will underwrite the cost of British banks borrowing in the wholesale markets in relation to SME loans, thus reducing their cost of capital.

The Chancellor will also unveil a £250m package of measures to help energy intensive industries meet regulations such as the carbon price floor and the EU emissions trading scheme. A Treasury source said the scheme could reduce companies’ electricity bills by between 5pc and 10pc.

One of the more controversial measures likely to be detailed is changes to the bank levy to ensure it collects the targeted £2.5bn. Poor performance by UK banks means the Government is likely to be forced to increase the levy from a projected 0.075pc of banks’ balance sheets to 0.1pc. The change is expected mostly to adversely affect Standard Chartered and HSBC, the two banks that have best weathered the global economic problems. Standard Chartered had expected to contribute $190m (£123m) to the levy.

Despite the generally gloomy outlook, the CBI, the BCC and other groups welcomed the Chancellor’s initiative on credit easing. The CBI said it had the potential to make a “real impact”. The BCC said it was “bold” but warned it needed to be implemented swiftly.

John Longworth, director general of the BCC, said: “The £20bn credit easing package announced by the Chancellor is a big shot in the arm for Britain’s real economy. The UK’s prospects for growth remain shaky, and measures of this size and scale are urgently needed to sustain a credible recovery.”